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<h1 class="gmail-bold">'Let me be clear, I will make no apology' - Lesufi responds to FF Plus on Afrikaans schools</h1>
<span id="gmail-spnDate" class="gmail-block gmail-datestamp">2018-10-26 22:57</span>
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<img id="gmail-image" title="Gauteng Education MEC Panyaza Lesufi. (Christopher Moagi, Daily Sun)" src="https://cdn.24.co.za/files/Cms/General/d/7729/2759f7eb97a441d19da860a116998833.jpg" alt="Gauteng Education MEC Panyaza Lesufi. (Christopher Moagi, Daily Sun)">
<p class="gmail-text">Gauteng Education MEC Panyaza Lesufi. (Christopher Moagi, Daily Sun)</p>
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<p>Gauteng Education MEC
Panyaza Lesufi says he will not apologise for asking an "underutilised
school" offering tuition in Afrikaans, to teach in another language
instead.</p><p>This was Lesufi's response to Gauteng legislature
integrity commissioner Dr Ralph Mgijima after the Freedom Front Plus'
(FF+) Adriaan van Staden, lodged a complaint insinuating that Lesufi
wanted to abolish Afrikaans at schools.</p><p>In a 48-page response, Lesufi pointed out that he in no way breached any constitutional or legislative provisions.</p><p>"Let
me be clear, I will make no apology for requesting an underutilised
school that only teaches in Afrikaans and where there is a sufficient
demand, as per the Norms and Standards of Language Policy in Public
Schools, referred to above, to provide tuition in another language,"
Lesufi was quoted as saying. </p><p>In
a statement, Gauteng education spokesperson Steve Mabona said it was
noted that Lesufi had seen it necessary, important and duty bound to
respond to Van Staden's allegations.</p><p>But he added that the
allegations were baseless and founded on paranoia and the manipulation
of information to achieve an electoral advantage for the party. </p><p><strong><a href="https://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/this-is-petty-politics-lesufi-on-ff-charges-against-him-20180918" target="_blank">Read: 'This is petty politics' - Lesufi on FF+ charges against him</a></strong></p><p>Mabona said Lesufi's response was filed with the integrity commissioner.</p><p>In
it, he denied in the strongest terms the allegation that he was in any
way prejudiced against the Afrikaans language, against Afrikaners, or
against any other minority, in any form.</p><p>"On the contrary, the
MEC's actions on numerous occasions over the years confirm his
commitment to the Constitution of South Africa and the rights of all
citizens enshrined in that Constitution," Mabona said. </p><p>He added that it was concerning that there the FF+ provided no evidence to support its allegations. </p><p>"This
was deliberately intended to misrepresent the situation and to portray
MEC Lesufi as being on a crusade against the Afrikaans language or
Afrikaans schools whereas, in fact, there is absolutely no evidence to
support that allegation," the statement read. </p><p>Mabona added that
it was the department's mandate that, where situations occurred in areas
where the racial demographics were changing in terms of residency or
employment, it was completely logical. The department was also obliged
to provide education to pupils as close as possible to where they lived
or where parents or guardians were employed. </p><p>In his response,
Lesufi also touched on, among others, the Hoërskool Overvaal court case
as well as the case of the Federation of Governing Bodies of South
African Schools (Fedsas), which were in van Staden's complaint.</p><p>According
to Lesufi the complaint said that the high court's decision that
Hoërskool Overvaal did not have to admit 55 English-speaking pupils,
confirmed the "political games being played by the Gauteng Department of
Education is only to the detriment of both white and black [pupils]". </p><p>The
party said in its complaint that "with this judgment, the court
confirmed that the Gauteng Department of Education [is] manipulating the
educational system in such a way that racial polarisation becomes
inevitable at Afrikaans schools..."</p><p><strong><a href="https://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/clash-continues-between-ff-plus-and-lesufi-over-afrikaans-in-schools-20180918" target="_blank">Also read: Clash continues between FF Plus and Lesufi over Afrikaans in schools</a></strong></p><p>However Lesufi responded that van Staden made several inferences from the judgment "which do not hold water".</p><p>"While
it may have been found that the instruction given to Hoërskool Overvaal
to admit 55 English-speaking [pupils] constituted a reviewable
decision, nowhere in the judgment is it said or implied that the
[Gauteng education department], or any of its representatives, were
playing political games or manipulating the education system," Lesufi
says in the response.</p><p>Regarding the Fedsas court case the
complaint said: "In May 2015, the Federation of Governing Bodies of
South African Schools won a court case against MEC Lesufi. This court
case followed on the MEC's attempts to force Afrikaans schools to admit
English-speaking [pupils]."</p><p>"The court's decision in this case
already proves that the MECs actions were unlawful and violated Section
29 of the Constitution”</p><p>However, Lesufi labelled the statements "untrue".</p><p>"While
it may be the case that the High Court ruled in favour of Fedsas, what
Mr Van Staden conveniently fails to mention is that this outcome was
appealed to the Supreme Court of Appeal and overturned," Lesufi said.</p>
<br>-- <br><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature">=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+<br><br> Harold F. Schiffman<br><br>Professor Emeritus of <br> Dravidian Linguistics and Culture <br>Dept. of South Asia Studies <br>University of Pennsylvania<br>Philadelphia, PA 19104-6305<br><br>Phone: (215) 898-7475<br>Fax: (215) 573-2138 <br><br>Email: <a href="mailto:haroldfs@gmail.com" target="_blank">haroldfs@gmail.com</a><br><a href="http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/" target="_blank">http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/</a> <br><br>-------------------------------------------------</div></div>